Seed to Harvest (Wild Seed / Mind of My Mind / Clay's Ark / Patternmaster)

Seed to Harvest (Patternmaster #1-4 omnibus)

4.26 of 5 stars 4.26  ·  rating details  ·  939 ratings  ·  103 reviews
In her classic Patternist series, multiple Hugo and Nebula award-winner Octavia E. Butler established the themes of identity and transformation that echo throughout her distinguished career. Now collected for the first time in one volume, these four novels take readers on a wondrous odyssey from a mythic, primordial past to a fantastic far future.

In ancient Africa, a femal

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Paperback, 767 pages
Published January 5th 2007 by Grand Central Publishing
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58th out of 197 books — 430 voters
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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,847)
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Jim Leckband
A great artist can write subtle and original variations out of the slimmest themes. Butler wrote "Patternmaster" first and this almost modest book contained the Seeds that were Harvested so movingly by Butler in the books to follow. These books explain how the societies that inhabit the Earth of "Patternmaster" came to be. This is a wild journey and I believe the work as a whole ranks up there with (or is better than) the standards of science fiction, from Foundation to Dune.

Wild Seed has a myt...more
Desiree
Overall impression :
I think my biggest gripe with this series is the cohesion. Even though all four are arranged in chronological order, the actual publication order is: Patternmaster (1976), Mind Of My Mind (1977), Wild Seed (1980), Clay's Ark (1984) and this discrepancy shows. It shows in the writing, ideas and concepts. Wild Seed (Book 1) and Mind of My Mind (Book 2) are the most connected because of Doro and Anyanwu. Clay's Ark (Book 3) just seems like an afterthought and more to give contex...more
Michel
Octavia Butler is easily my favorite author. Sadly, she does not get nearly as much recognition as she deserves. When I discovered her (thanks to great college professors) I found myself constantly asked, "Oh are you in Afr. Amer. Lit. (Women's Lit.)?"

Butler's stories are so much more than the color of the heroine's skin. This collection of the Patternist stories is easily my favorite because of the set up, follow through, and end of the series.

The story begins with the amazingly complex Doro an...more
Tatiana
I just reread this compilation of 4 of the novels of her Patternist series, as well as the other one, Lilith's Brood, which is a compilation of her 3 novels of the Xenogenesis series. She's one of my favorite writers ever. I had to go just now and bump her up on my list. The themes she gets at are so important.

With the whole relationship between Doro and Anyanwu, I sort of saw my mother and father's connection to each other again. Doro just operates by force to get his needs met and make what he...more
Angela
I always judge a really satisfying book by the way that, when I am done reading it, I put it down on the table and let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding.

This edition is really four books, so it's hard to review collectively.

The first book, Wild Seed, is probably the best (and longest). It tells two intertwined stories: that of Doro, a spirit thousands of years old who inhabits the bodies of humans by using their bodies as a temporary vessel as he "feeds" upon them, and Anyanwe, a...more
Korynn
I had read two of the books separately but this omnibus makes it obvious that as a series the books are even stronger than as individuals. Linked, the narrative builds into a greater whole. Mind of My Mind directly continues the story of Wild Seed, focusing entirely on Doro finally reaping what he has sown with consequences for the entire world as well as himself. Patternmaster marries Clay's Ark with the world resulted from Mind of My Mind into a horrific future in which the mutated/evolved Cla...more
Megan
Ok. I was enjoying this set up until I got to the third book, Clay's Ark. Now, I'm not someone who squicks easily, but if I had known about this book I would not have read it. If you need trigger warnings for rape, well, don't read this. If you are pregnant, do not read this. Seriously, it's really full of rape. And it's continually justified by (view spoiler)[basically saying, it's ok if I've given you an alien roofie (hide spoiler)]. Oh, and then (view spoiler)[they all give birth to cat babie...more
Janet
Mar 25, 2009 Janet rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who like Storm Constantine's Wraethu books
Shelves: science-fiction
This is a collection of four novels which tell the story of two different tribes of altered humans. Butler is an excellent writer, but I probably would not have picked up the second book if the entire series had not been bound together. They are not exactly pleasant reading.

The stories focus on fascinating, sometimes tragic, and often unlikeable characters struggling to understand and come to terms with their dangerous gifts and survive in very bleak societies. In both cases, the changes which d...more
Stuart
Seed to Harvest is actually four books in one, so it seemed like a good way to start reading the well-reviewed and recommended author Octavia Butler. The books were written individually some years apart and not in sequence, and to me they seemed like a mixed bag, even like a series of short stories rather than four separate novels. I shouldn't complain, though. I always object to books that don't have endings, only sequels, and here are four with actual endings, but linked togther. I enjoyed the...more
Naima
I just made my way through the four book, epic "Patternist" series, and I can't say that it is my favorite of all Octavia Butler's books. But she does always satisfy with an engaging story, plenty of dark racially charged subjects, and complex sexual/gender dynamics.
Kate Kulig
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Kris
I miss Octavia Butler. There are so few writers out there with a voice that's anything like hers, and science fiction could definitely use some. This is a collection of four books from her Patternmaster series (presented in order of events rather than order of publication), which starts with an immortal trying to breed psychic humans so he can steal their bodies and follows the story all the way through to his descendants fighting an extraterrestrial virus that mutates their children. Pretty awe...more
Hayley
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Shannon
Jan 21, 2010 Shannon is currently reading it
Shelves: science-fiction
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Jeremy
Each of these four stories is very different, and though loosely connected, they don't necessarily flow seamlessly from one to the next.
Perhaps this is because book four was actually written first, and the three prequels were extrapolated from that and written over the course of the subsequent years.
My favorite story, "Clay's Ark," was written last though it is the third book. I enjoyed this one the most because it stands apart from the first two books (which are much more closely connected by...more
Megan
The writing wasn't as strong as other books I've read by Butler, but I think this is some of her early work. And the books weren't written in chronological order so there's that. I think Wild Seed and Mind of My Mind were my favorites within the epic and were later I believe so she had time to strengthen her writing skills. Anyanwu was such a great character and no other character introduced really stuck with me like she did. You could've thrown them all away otherwise. However crappy some of th...more
Sy
so, as of yesterday, i have finally read all but one of her patternmaster series: survivor, which i could not find and is not included in this compilation. it was a quick read because i had previously read wild see and clay's ark before and skipped them. :-) i adore octavia butler's style and although i was disappointed with the ending (patternmaster book), i understood her underlying reasoning. i just thought there should have been more. *shrugs* still, it's hard to put down an octavia butler b...more
 Jessica
This is a 4-book compilation of Butler's Patternist series. I'm glad I read it. I picked it up because Butler was recommended as a strong female & PoC voice in the science fiction genre. I don't think there are enough women represented in the SciFi pantheon, and there certainly aren't enough PoC represented. Butler's books in this compilation affirmed her place among the best of them... even though the final book in the set (Patternmaster) was, frankly, terrible.

The first three books (Wild...more
zjakkelien
These books are excellent. I very much enjoyed the first two books, in which the psychic abilities of a group of people increase due to enforced selective breeding. The person doing the enforcing, Doro, is amazingly understanding of his subjects yet cold. This particularly shows through contrast with Anyanwu, the woman who causes him such struggle. The third book I found disappointing. I didn't understand what link it had to the previous books. In a way, I suppose it didn't have one: it had a li...more
Brittany
You really shouldn't be allowed to read Patternmaster on its own, or in any way other than as the conclusion to this book. On its own, it's a pretty interesting story. In the context of Seed to Harvest it's the stunning conclusion to a carefully selected, deliberately reasoned set of circumstances.

Seed to Harvest begins with "Wild Seed." Now, I missed the first 25 pages of the story because they were ripped out of my copy, but I was able to reconstruct most of it. It's the fascinating tale of o...more
Dionisia
I have read several of Octavia Butler's books and count myself as a fan of her work. This particular series is not a favorite of mine but I was never bored. This omnibus contains four novels: Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay's Ark andPatternmaster.
Wild Seed begins in Africa during the time of the slave trade and introduces the seemingly immortal characters of Doro and Anyanwu. Doro has survived thousands of years by jumping bodies and has been carefully breeding humans to cultivate and strength...more
Kim
This is an omnibus of four of the five novels of the Patternist series, Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay's Ark and Patternmaster. For some reason unknown to me, the third book in the series, Survivor, is not included in this omnibus.

The first novel, Wild Seed, was by far my favorite. It is the story of Doro, a man with a special power that allows his spirit to jump from body to body, leaving the discarded bodies dead. He quickly discovers that it gives him more pleasure to occupy the body of a p...more
Jasmin
seed to harvest collects octavia butler's patternist series (minus survivor, which she disowned according to wikipedia) into a single volume. i truly appreciate how ms. butler's stories are gathered and presented in this format. at a time when reality is continually painful, escaping into her storytelling became a refuge that allowed me to see the world we're in with clearer eyes and still asking more questions.

seed to harvest includes:
* wild seed - originally published in 1980
* mind of my mind...more
Aerin
This volume contains the four books in Octavia E. Butler's Patternist series: Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay's Ark, and Patternmaster. Spanning centuries, from the 1600's to the distant future, these books tell the story of two warring groups: the telepathic Patternists, and the mutated alien Clayarks.

Having loved Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, I was looking forward to reading more of her work. However, I found reading these books an intensely unpleasant experi...more
Chris
Sep 26, 2008 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone and everyone
I really enjoyed this series. Maybe not as much as some of her other combined works but it was definitely a great read. I think part of the reason I didn't like it as much was that a few of the books (actually one in particular) had a pretty dismaying ending. The other part may have been that each book left me wanting more (which is a wonderful thing by the way). Still it was amazing to think about the evolution of new types of people and how their ways of life could pit them against each other...more
Alex Telander
SEED TO HARVEST BY OCTAVIA E. BUTLER: Collected for the first time are all four of Octavia E. Butler’s Patternist novels: Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay’s Ark, and Patternmaster. Now you get to see this whole unique world from its beginnings hundreds of years ago to its conclusion hundreds and thousands of years in the future. Seed to Harvest will delight and terrify you in a way only Butler can.

Our main character and quasi hero is Doro, who is more like a god or perhaps a devil in a way, inst...more
Christy
Wild Seed--The first part of this collection of four of Butler's novels turned out to be interesting, but not great. I liked the ideas she raised through the novel, but the development of the characters and the plot was somewhat lacking in the end.

I'm looking forward to reading the other books in this series to see where she goes with the ideas set up in Wild Seed.

(There's a much more detailed summary and review at my personal blog, [http://cmt2779.livejournal.com/87918....].

Mind of My Mind ta...more
Linda
Octavia Butler is one of my favorite authors and I very much enjoyed this collection. I remember starting the book while eating dinner at the Thai restaurant (its name keeps changing!) on Forest Avenue in Portland Maine about 5 years ago and just being amazed. I have not read any other books that use xenogenesis so effectively to explore some of the weightiest issues of human history, including genocide. I only learned about her a few years ago and now I recommend her all the time.
Ann
Well I love Octavia Butler and this kind of visionary sci fi, so that that into account with my evaluation. There are four short books in this collection all parts of the same story, about a breeding project to develop telepaths and other humans with special powers that is undertaken by a half human mutation over a number of centuries, and what finally happens when the project is successful. There is good character development and interesting plot twists.
Nina Chachu
I am ashamed to say that this is the first book that I have read by Olivia Butler - though in fact it is actually four related novels which were published at different times (from 1976 to 1984) and not in the order in which they are collected in this book. I liked it, and will probably try and read some more of her SF/fantasy. Personally I did enjoy the first book best, Wild seed , maybe because of its description of Africa and despite what could be interpreted as an idealized view of slavery.
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Seed to Harvest (Omnibus: Wild Seed / Mind of My Mind / Clay's Ark / Patternmaster)
Seed to Harvest (Wild Seed / Mind of My Mind / Clay's Ark / Patternmaster)
Seed to Harvest: Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay's Ark, and Patternmaster (ebook)
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Octavia Estelle Butler was an American science fiction writer, one of the best-known among the few African-American women in the field. She won both Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant.
More about Octavia E. Butler...
Kindred Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1) Fledgling Parable of the Talents (Earthseed, #2) Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1)

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